Costa Rica’s protected areas recorded 2,611,643 visits in 2024, according to the Costa Rican Tourism Institute’s Visitas a las áreas silvestres protegidas (SINAC) 1990-2024. That total followed a pandemic-era low of 1,176,464 visits in 2020 and was the second-highest annual figure in the 2020–2024 period. The long-run series shows how visits grew from 511,233 in 1990, while the recent breakdown shows the changing balance between resident and non-resident visitors.
Contents
- 1990–1999: the first decade
- 2000–2009: visits pass one million
- 2010–2019: a larger visitation base
- 2020–2024: disruption and recovery
- Residents and non-residents
- The most visited parks in 2024
1990–1999: the first decade
The SINAC protected-area series begins with 511,233 total visits in 1990. Visits dipped to 492,334 in 1991 before rising to 639,753 in 1992 and 745,969 in 1993. The next two years were lower than 1993: 700,434 visits were recorded in 1994 and 614,081 in 1995.
The second half of the decade was stronger. Protected areas recorded 658,657 visits in 1996, followed by 742,761 in 1997 and 810,098 in 1998. The decade ended at 866,083 visits in 1999. The progression from 511,233 visits in 1990 to 866,083 in 1999 provides the broadest early signal in this series, although the annual path was not perfectly steady.
| Year | Total visits |
|---|---|
| 1990 | 511,233 |
| 1991 | 492,334 |
| 1992 | 639,753 |
| 1993 | 745,969 |
| 1994 | 700,434 |
| 1995 | 614,081 |
| 1996 | 658,657 |
| 1997 | 742,761 |
| 1998 | 810,098 |
| 1999 | 866,083 |
All figures in this section come from the Costa Rican Tourism Institute’s SINAC visitation series. The geography is Costa Rica’s protected areas as reported by SINAC, rather than a separately defined count of only one type of national park.
2000–2009: visits pass one million
The new decade opened with 812,102 visits in 2000 and 861,226 in 2001. Annual visitation then reached 919,632 in 2002 and 994,379 in 2003. The first reported total above one million came in 2004, when protected areas recorded 1,063,592 visits.
The series remained above one million for every year from 2004 through 2009. Visits were 1,066,821 in 2005, 1,201,197 in 2006, 1,306,830 in 2007, and 1,378,130 in 2008. The decade ended with 1,282,193 visits in 2009.
The 2000–2009 pattern therefore has two useful markers: a move from 812,102 to more than one million visits, and a late-decade high of 1,378,130 in 2008 before the 2009 total settled lower. The source reports annual totals; it does not by itself explain why any particular year’s count rose or fell.
2010–2019: a larger visitation base
Protected-area visitation was 1,264,318 in 2010, then increased to 1,509,272 in 2011 and 1,613,129 in 2012. The total reached 1,632,793 in 2013 and 1,778,057 in 2014. In 2015, the count was 1,895,196.
The largest totals in this decade came in its final four years. SINAC recorded 2,141,084 visits in 2016, 2,059,402 in 2017, 2,142,580 in 2018, and 2,263,231 in 2019. Thus, the decade ended with the highest pre-pandemic figure in the supplied series.
| Period | Reported annual totals |
|---|---|
| 2010–2012 | 1,264,318; 1,509,272; 1,613,129 |
| 2013–2015 | 1,632,793; 1,778,057; 1,895,196 |
| 2016–2019 | 2,141,084; 2,059,402; 2,142,580; 2,263,231 |
The figures show a visitation base above two million in three of the four years from 2016 through 2019. The 2017 total was below both 2016 and 2018, while 2019 was the highest of those four years. These are reported totals, not an estimate or forecast.
One way to read this decade is by the level reached in each part of the period. The series was still at 1,264,318 visits in 2010, then crossed 1.5 million in 2011 and remained above that level through 2013. It was above 1.7 million in 2014 and above 1.8 million in 2015. The first reported total above two million came in 2016, when the count was 2,141,084. The 2017 count of 2,059,402 was lower than the adjacent 2016 and 2018 observations, but it remained above two million.
This progression matters for interpreting the later recovery figures. A comparison with 2024 depends on the reference year: 2024 was higher than 2019’s 2,263,231 visits, while 2023’s 2,728,582 was the higher recent observation. The source gives annual totals for protected-area visits, so the figures should be used as a time series of recorded entries and not as a measure of average length of stay, spending, or the number of individual visitors.
2020–2024: disruption and recovery
The 2020 total was 1,176,464 visits, below the 2,263,231 recorded in 2019. The SINAC series identifies the annual totals but does not provide a cause in the supplied figures, so the comparison should be read as a measured change in visitation rather than a claim about its explanation.
Visits rose to 1,705,228 in 2021 and 2,346,029 in 2022. The total reached a period high of 2,728,582 in 2023 before easing to 2,611,643 in 2024. The latest figure was still above the 2019 total and above every year from 1990 through 2018 in this series.
| Year | Total protected-area visits |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 2,263,231 |
| 2020 | 1,176,464 |
| 2021 | 1,705,228 |
| 2022 | 2,346,029 |
| 2023 | 2,728,582 |
| 2024 | 2,611,643 |
The SINAC 1990–2024 visitation publication is the source for each annual total in this section. It reports observations for completed years, not projections for future visitation.
Residents and non-residents
The recent data also separates visits by resident and non-resident visitors. In 2020, residents accounted for 696,310 visits and non-residents for 480,154. In 2021, the corresponding counts were 1,031,102 and 674,126. The resident count was higher in both years.
The pattern changed in 2022. Residents made 1,022,125 visits, while non-residents made 1,323,904. In 2023, residents recorded 1,106,276 visits and non-residents recorded 1,622,306. In 2024, the resident count was 961,998 and the non-resident count was 1,649,645.
| Year | Residents | Non-residents |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 696,310 | 480,154 |
| 2021 | 1,031,102 | 674,126 |
| 2022 | 1,022,125 | 1,323,904 |
| 2023 | 1,106,276 | 1,622,306 |
| 2024 | 961,998 | 1,649,645 |
For 2020 and 2021, the resident category was larger than the non-resident category in the reported breakdown. From 2022 through 2024, non-resident visits were larger. The 2024 resident figure was lower than the 2023 resident figure, while the 2024 non-resident figure was higher than the 2023 non-resident figure. These categories describe visits, not unique people; the supplied source labels them as resident and non-resident visitation.
The most visited parks in 2024
The 2024 park-level figures identify Manuel Antonio as the most visited listed site, with 488,629 total visits. Volcán Poás followed with 281,689, and Tortuguero recorded 228,878. Volcán Irazú had 211,942 visits, while Volcán Tenorio recorded 201,909.
Other sites in the reported 2024 list were Marino Ballena with 204,610 visits, Cahuita with 164,938, Arenal with 141,145, Corcovado with 102,764, and Rincón de la Vieja with 84,417.
| Site | 2024 total visits |
|---|---|
| Manuel Antonio | 488,629 |
| Volcán Poás | 281,689 |
| Tortuguero | 228,878 |
| Volcán Irazú | 211,942 |
| Marino Ballena | 204,610 |
| Volcán Tenorio | 201,909 |
| Cahuita | 164,938 |
| Arenal | 141,145 |
| Corcovado | 102,764 |
| Rincón de la Vieja | 84,417 |
The park-level counts are part of the same Costa Rican Tourism Institute and SINAC publication. They are 2024 totals for the named sites and should not be treated as a ranking for another year. The publication’s broader national total for all protected-area visits in 2024 was 2,611,643, while the ten site figures above represent only the listed parks and do not constitute the national total.